Adventures On the Road

As a compromise for not spending the day driving to get to some of the famous Maui waterfalls…..

Iao Valley

You guessed it – it wasn’t me in the water

And we made sure to return to Honolua Bay to go snorkeling for a couple of mornings.

Honolua Bay

Reminds of me Avatar

And we were rewarded for our early morning departure by swimming with 4 sea turtles!  The last one we saw had a missing fin, to which Nathan said, ‘shark bait’, which made me head back to shore!  By the time we made it to the overlook not only could we see turtles swimming from above, but a pod of over a dozen dolphins had joined the party!  Darn it, just missed them, however I may have freaked out if I was as close to them as the couple on surfboards.

Swimming Sea Turtle

How many dolphins?

And of course we made sure to see a few sunsets (when I wasn’t sleeping through them)

View from Capische

Cliche Sunset Photo

And of course, no trip to Maui is complete without a Luau.

Aloha

Old Lahaina Luau

After finishing up our breakfast at Kula Lodge, the finishing touch after our morning sunrise at the summit of Haleakala, we realized that it was only 9am and we had the entire day left for adventures.

On a quest to check off all of the sites and experiences in my brochures, it seemed natural to follow up our sunrise with the Road to Hana.  So what if people typically plan separate days for these excursions?  Who says you can’t jam pack them all into one?

Well, we made our way to the bamboo forest at Twin Falls, a place that apparently my brother and sister and I revolted against in a past family vacation when we refused to leave the car.  I was determined to make the trek this time around.

Bamboo Forest (possibly…?)

I don’t think anyone can resist taking photos of the gorgeous flowers in Maui

After the bamboo forest, the Twin Falls and 10 miles of the windy Road to Hana, it became clear that perhaps it’s not necessary to go down the list of ‘Must See’ sites and check them all off the list, one after another.  We don’t need to plan every moment of our vacation and we definitely didn’t need to spend hours driving from site to site (after all, we spend most of our time traveling on the road).

But we did see parrots!

Once we turned around and decided to treat ourselves to a fantastic lunch at Mama’s Fish House, we made a decision to really experience Maui.  And that meant it was time to enjoy the sun, the sand and the surf.

Mama’s Fish House

The View from the Restaurant

Mama’s Fish House Beach

Just Hanging out with the Waves

No need to plan our fun time, it was time to just HAVE FUN!

The Calm Before the ‘Fun’

Waiting for a Wave

Boogie Boarding Expert

For some reason it always looks like I’m in the shallows….I swear I ride some big waves too!

Luckily for everyone, no one was around to witness all the fun we were having on our little beach.  The waves were so aggressive they were trying to rip off all our clothes!

Goin’ Back for More

I grew up in a household that went on family vacations every summer.  And before we stepped outside our door, all 5 of us were armed with an itinerary that scheduled out every minute of our trip.  From wake up time, to travel time, to meal times, to bed time and everything in between.  There was never a reason why you shouldn’t know exactly where you should be, and what the day would bring.  We even had scheduled shopping and beach time.  ORGANIZED FUN

Now, I’m not saying that with all of the travel that we do, I have itineraries for all of the adventures that we find ourselves in.  But, the older I get, the more I realize that I absorbed a lot more of the ‘Organized Fun’ way of thinking than I thought.

Wheels out and on the landing strip.  We arrived in Maui.  Although equipped with not much more than a car rental reservation number and an address for the hotel, it didn’t take me long to find the ‘Ultimate Driving Guide to Maui’, a ‘Best of’ Guide and a food guide.  Really, what more do you need?  I think I had prepped myself before our bags even arrived.

We couldn’t do much more than crawl into bed after making our way to the hotel at midnight, but once the light started streaming through our window at 5am…..Let the FUN begin.

Maui Sunrise from Hotel Wailea

A road map and a driving playlist.   That’s all we needed for Maui Day #1.

After getting a little carried away at the first scenic overlook (Nathan ventured down to the water, while I pointed at yellow fish that I could see in the water from above) we made our way North of the Wailea area, and along the coast past Kihei, Lahaina, and Kaanapali.

We may have strayed a little off the beaten track of the scenic overlook fence

We stopped for a beachside lunch and a dip in the water at the map described ‘everything that you would picture a beach to be’ Kapalua Beach.  In all of our excitement we didn’t seem to take a picture of this ‘perfect’ beach.  No worries though, it was only the first day and the beaches seemed to raise the bar every time we went to a different one.

A quick dip at Kapalua Beach

And then we came upon Honolua Bay.  Beautiful.  Everything that you would picture Maui to be and everything that you would want in a snorkeling area.

Honolua Bay

After blowing past the Nakalele Blowhole and playing chicken on the one lane windy road, it was 3pm.  And although not on the itinerary, it was Nap Time.  Back to the hotel….as hard as it is to ignore the beauty at Hotel Wailea.

Hotel Wailea: Surroundings & View

I slept for 14 hours that night – too much fun the last couple days I guess.  But Nathan did wake me up long enough to enjoy a little bit of our first sunset in Maui.

Maui Sunset from Hotel Wailea